Darkmatters Review: Ben-Hur

Ben-Hur (12a)

Dir. Timur Bekmambetov

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“First to finish, last to die…”

The Romans eh? What have they ever given us cinematically? Well apart from Gladiator, Spartacus and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, plus maybe King Arthur if you’re a Kiera Knightley fan… And now we have updated remake of Ben-Hur, minus the religious sub title but with added sub-300 CGI this time.

Romans > Pumpkins

It was always going to be tough to follow up the classic 1959 Charlton Heston starring, multi-Oscar winning version of the ancient novel by Lew Wallace but cool action director Timur ‘Wanted’ Bekmambetoc gives it a go. Meet Judah Ben-Hur (Jack ‘Pride & Prejudice & Zombies’ Huston) a Jewish prince who loses everything when his adopted Roman brother Messala (Toby ‘Warcraft’ Kebbell), turns on his family. Sentenced to slavery on a galley in the Roman navy, Judah vows to one day get revenge. Revenge in the circus! Not the clowns and trapeze variety but the bloody chariot racing where death and dishonour dished out in an ancient Fast & Furious destruction derby race.

Feel the need for speed

Cue an hour of tame background and vaguely interesting character build up in which Jesus (Rodrigo ‘Xerxes from 300’ Santoro) pops up in various cameos – doing some woodwork, obviously, saying some peacemaking soundbites and helping people including Judah when he stumbles on en route to his slavery commission. Also in the mix is Pontius Pilate (Pilou ‘Lucy’ Asbæk), hhhmmmm, I wonder if his seemingly random encounters with Jesus will have any pay off down the line?

21 Pilates - are you not entertained?

Anyway, Judah’s unlikely ticket to vengeance comes when his path crosses chariot team trainer Sheik Ilderim (Morgan Freeman) who is willing to wager his fortune to give the wronged Jew a chance at racing his traitorous brother. Everything bar one exciting sea battle feels like padding, it’s the chariots of fire that is the selling point of this movie but it takes a while to get to.

Ahoy there for CGI

The good news is that Bekmambetov unleashes his action violence chops at the climactic chariot showdown, and for that 15 mins, Ben-Hur becomes an adrenalin overload of brutal racing excitement.

As a Christian, I found the religious elements well handled, sure they are a little overcooked but not massively distracting from the main narrative and Santoro's depiction of Jesus is solid (- a million miles away from his bloodthirsty 'man god' Xerxes in both the 300 movies, which at least shows he's got acting range!).

Antiques Roadshow - this week we're 'joined' by Jesus

Should you check out Ben - huh?

If you’re in the mood for a mostly gentle sandal-em-up which pays off big time at the end, this is a decent enough effort. The chariot race is especially effective in IMAX where you can almost feel the sand in your eyes!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öö1/2

(2.5 - Chariot salvation* for earnest historical retread)...

Awesomeness öööö – Love that ancient pod racing stand out scene

Laughs öö – Couple of laughs, not all intentional

Horror ööö – Actually has few grim moments which adds credibility

Spiritual Enlightenment öööö - Check that carpenter guy out!

Original and still best!

*remove 1.5 stars if you don't like chariot races...

Darkmatters Review: Sausage Party

Sausage Party (15)

Dir.  Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“Friends... Ramen... Country Club Lemonade... Lend me your ears of Corn. I'm Frank and I am a sausage...”

Welcome to Shopwell's Grocery Store – there are some great special offers available today. Get your well meaning hot dog wieners like Frank (Seth Rogen), or his shapely bun girlfriend Brenda (Kristen Wiig) – they make an especially tasty lead duo. Or maybe you’re in the mood for a fresh ‘Jewish’ flavour bagel - Sammy (Edward Norton) and his bickering Arab flatbread - Lavash (David Krumholtz), who trade all you can eat Middle East stereotype banter.

made for each other

If you’ve a hankering for amusing spicy, raunchy and vulgar animation, Sausage Party has it on the menu. The plot sees the products of Shopwell’s looking forward to being purchased by the human ‘gods’ so they can be taken to ‘the great beyond’ which they have been told is a heavenly existence outside of their wrapping. But a returned pot of unwanted Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) has seen the grim truth of what humans do to the food they buy… Can Frank and friends convince the food that they are doomed to be eaten, used and thrown away – an unpalatable message that goes against the phony fable that has been spread by the sage long lasting unperishable items of the store to prevent despair and panic amongst the commodities.

fear the 'gods'

Directors Greg ‘Thomas The Tank Engine’ Tiernan and Conrad ‘Shrek 2’ Vernon's filthy food-em-up is a foul mouthed blast of edible puns and sex organ sight gags – wrapped around a nihilistic analogy that mocks religious beliefs. It certainly isn’t for kids or anyone easily offended, Sausage Party’s talking food is possibly the sweariest film of the year so far, but it’s also very funny.

The humour certainly couldn’t be much less high-brow for the most part which does undermine any serious anti-religious messaging it tries for – but the scattergun bawdiness and simplistic racial stereotyping such as the Nazi-ish Sauerkraut encouraging the ‘extermination of the juice’ aim to offend so viewers should be prepared. This is a long long way from the family friendly Pixar classics but it packs some great voice acting such as a fun cameo from Paul ‘Ant Man’ Rudd as the ‘Dark Lord’ store employee who throws away goods with damaged packaging.

Middle Eastern verbal conflict

Sausage Party is a tasty new kind of comedy animation which delivers a filthy good time for adult fans of stoner comedies.


Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö1/2

(3.5 - Funny tasting food with a side order of nihilism)...

Awesomeness ööö – Some well observed scenes that'll stick with you

Laughs öööö – Low brow but laugh-out-loud in places

Horror öö – Not overly grim but serious adult themes

Spiritual Enlightenment -öö - Nothing to report

Darkmatters Review: War Dogs

War Dogs (15)

Dir. Todd Philips

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“I’m not a bad man. But there are times I need to think ‘what would a bad man do?’”

War – huh, what is it good for?

Well for two 20 something pals David Packouz (Miles ‘Fantastic 4’ Teller) and Efraim Diveroli (Jonah ’21 Jump Street’ Hill) war is a chance to get seriously rich. Yes these two chancers bagged a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan – despite neither of them actually having experience in international arms dealing…

The fact that this actually happened is staggering – it was called a ‘case study of everything that is wrong with the US Government’s arms procurement process’ and it proves fuel for a fun cinematic recap of just how this might have occurred.

"shady"

Packouz serves as voiceover to this madness – he’s an all American young chap with a lovely girlfriend Iz (Ana ‘Knock Knock’ de Armas). When Diveroli his slightly dodgy high school friend returns to town with tales of crazy money to be made from finding and servicing small military contracts, he jumps straight in. For a time it’s all fun, games and new Porsches as the two guys manage to pull off some results – including a hair raising drive to Baghdad. But before long the stakes rise considerably when these chancer ‘war dogs’ find a huge million-dollar opportunity which leads them to make a deal with shady black market gun runner Henry Girard (Bradley ‘Joy’ Cooper).

The question at the heart of War Dogs is ‘how far would you go in pursuit of the American Dream of easy wealth?’ There are lots of influences and references from films including Wolf of Wall Street, Scarface and Lord of War but director Todd ‘The Hangover’ Philips manages to craft an effective greed-em-up that sucks you in and makes you care about the fate of the main characters.

"Dog eat dog bro"

Both the two leads are on good form – Teller is likeable innocent, in way over his head and Hill is out of control as the greed driven mogul who’s not afraid to break the law or trample on others to get what he wants. As the money rolls in, the criminality ramps up and so does the potential consequences. It seems there’s a reason that warmongering isn’t usually a career for earnest upright young men and suddenly it starts to look like not everyone is going to be alive to see the end credits.

War racketeering shouldn’t be this fun but War Dogs really delivers.

"Opportunities"

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö1/2

(3.5 - The first casualty of war certainly isn't greed)...

Awesomeness ööö – You'll feel the feels

Laughs ööö – Darkly comic with Hill's laugh alone!

Horror öö – Sweary and tense but limited violent horror

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - Trust no-one

Darkmatter Review: David Brent Life On The Road

David Brent: Life On The Road (15)

Dir. Ricky Gervais

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

Read the newspaper version of this review: The Chronicle

“I’m gonna roll you over, and rock you stupid, and leave you there just humming...” 

David Brent is back. I never thought I’d write those words but here is the middle-aged master loser – on the big screen as a documentary team follow his dream of a ‘rock tour’ to save him from life as a sanitary products sales rep.

The Office was incredible TV, that made you wince and laugh in equal measure, the likes of which we haven’t fully seen since. David Brent: Life On The Road picks up the potent unfulfilled dreams of Slough’s favourite office manager and presents the full horror of what happens when Brent cashes in his life savings and pensions to finance a tour for his band ‘Foregone Conclusion’.

T-shirt gun massacre

The good news is that this the best Gervais has been in years – capturing the brilliant comedy / pathos at the heart of The Office and delivering big time both in the laughs and the cringe inducing awfulness of Brent’s socially awkward overdrive. This isn’t for those who are easily offended or just after some gentle humour – Life On The Road is a comedy-tragic-em-up that will rip your heart out even while you’re spitting popcorn.

This older Brent is a lonelier than ever, his hired bandmates won’t socialise with him or even let him on the expensive tour bus he’s shelled out for, - he even has to pay them to have an after show drink with him at one point. The expected adoring crowds don’t exactly turn up and the record company scouts are more interested in the genuinely talented aspiring rapper Dom Johnson (Doc Brown) who Brent has guest rap on some of his songs in an effort to make them both ethically friendly and youth.

Too much detail

The excellent Tom ‘Love & Friendship’ Bennett is great as Brent’s one Lavichem office pal and Diane ‘Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe’ Morgan has a fun cameo as a PR tasked with the impossible job of making Brent ‘cool’. Doc Brown though steals all his scenes with looks to camera of such sheer uncomfortableness that I’d love to see him get his own spin off movie.

Life On The Road takes mid-life desperation and blows the door off it in fine comic style. You’ll laugh, you might even cry but be warned you might also very well hurt yourself due to the unsafe levels of cringe.

Wondering where it all went wrong

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 - Might tear your soul apart)...

Awesomeness öööö – Goes beyond the cringe threshold

Laughs öööö – Superb but painful

Horror öö – Swears and middle age desperation

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - Everyone has a need for redemption (even Brent)

Darkmatters Review: Pete's Dragon

Pete’s Dragon (PG)

Dir. David Lowery

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“Just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there”

Prepare to believe in dragons once more as the powers that be re-image Disney’s original boy-and-dragon-em-up Pete’s Dragon. Step this way or an adventure which sees unfortunate orphan Pete (Oakes Fegley) surviving in the wild thanks to his unusual best friend Elliott (a kind hearted furry green beastie).

Pete and Elliot’s worlds are shaken up when Pete runs into Forest Ranger Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) who has somehow managed not to notice the wild boy and his giant green pal living on her patch of forest for several years. He’s whisked off to civilisation and introduced to Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill.

BFFs

As Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about his dragon – whilst the townsfolk decide to catch Elliot to make money out of him. Can the two mismatched kids and kindly dragon believing old timer Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) – who tells the local children tales of a dragon residing deep in the woods – find a way to triumph?

Well, without wanting to spoil it, this is a Disney childrens’ fantasy but it does at least throw in some mild scares, a spot of tension and an impressive fire breathing finale. This new take on Pete’s Dragon updates the 1977 live-action / animation mixture removes lots of the cheese and adds some nice though provoking themes. Director David ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’ Lowery does a decent job in making the whole tale bounce along with a bittersweet grounding that should appeal to both kids and those who can still find their inner sense of childlike wonder.

Knuckle-heads

Everyone goes about the fantasy fun and occasional peril with good spirit, Redford is the best I’ve seen him in years and the two young leads are very watchable. Howard has strong recent form with giant lizards after Jurassic World, plus there’s also Karl ‘Star Trek’ Urban and Wes ‘American Beauty’ Bentley to round out a great cast.

Pete’s Dragon is a family pleaser which stands above the cash in summer kids efforts and is certainly worth a look. It is even possible you’ll find your local church doing a Pete’s Dragon themed service as a special pack of resources has been created around the film for churches to use…

Check out the resource pack for yourself at: ETHOS MEDIA

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö

(3 - Puff ain't go nothing on Elliot)...

Awesomeness ööö – Some great set pieces 

Laughs öö – Some fun but not a comedy

Horror ö – Not grim but tense and occasionally scary

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - BFF's whatever species you are...

Darkmatters Review: Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad (15)

Dir. David Ayer

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

“We're bad guys, it's what we do…”

In a world rocked by the super threats highlighted by the destructive antics of ‘metahumans’ from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman the government decides to bring together a back up plan to handle the next attack.

"Soul sword"

Meet Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) the cold-hearted agent who creates ‘Task Force X’ by assembling a super team made up of metahuman villains forced to fight for us, not against us. And thus the ‘suicide squad’ is born – comprising of some of DC Comics’ most famous bad guys: Crack assassin Deadshot (Will Smith), Psychotic femme fatale Harly Quinn (Margot Robbie), Dangerous ‘Captain’ Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Flesh eating Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Fire manipulating El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Messed up Slipnot (Adam Beach), Powerful sorceress Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) and Expert martial artist Katana (Karen Fukuhara).

Can these ‘worst heroes ever’ actually work with special forces marines led by Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) for reduced jail terms or death-via-mini-bomb-in-their-necks if they disobey or try to escape? It’s a blast finding out.

Director David ‘End of Watch’ Ayer brings Suicide Squad to the screen as a sequel and worthy companion to Batman v Superman. Batman (Ben Affleck) gets some cool short action scenes and there is a fun cameo from another member of the soon to be formed Justice League. Suicide Squad works well as a stand alone adventure but also helps build the DC Cinematic Universe in fine style.

"stars of the show..."

This ‘Skwad’ of expendable baddies tear up the screen in an action packed romp which manages to be both dark and funny, and whilst these characters are the ones you’ll be rooting for, you’re not aloud to forget that they are nasty and each have heinous crimes to their names. Pick of the bunch are the perfectly cast Deadshot – Will Smith really delivers a top performance, and Harley Quinn - Margot Robbie might have to wear the most sexist outfit ever but she’s hypnotic and will steal many hearts with her cracked humour as much as her shapely form.

"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha..."

Also mixed up in the action is Harley’s ‘Puddin’ - The Joker (Jared Leto trying his best to follow in the huge shoes of Heather Ledger) and succeeding, creating a wicked new take on the Clown Prince of Crime.

Pick apart the pacing of the plot and knock the ‘darker than Marvel’ tone all you want but Suicide Squad is a comic book fan’s dream writ large and I left the cinema grinning – both at what I’d just witnessed (stay for the end credits extra scene), and in anticipation of more to come!

"These criminals are animals!"

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 - In Skwad we trust)...

Awesomeness öööö – Awesome and messy, high adrenaline stuff

Laughs öööö – Mucho dark humour

Horror ööö – Earns the 15 rating as grim in parts

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - Who are you anyway?

"perfection"

DISCLOSURE: I loved Man of Steel and Batman v Superman - if you're a hater of the recent DC output you might want to knock off one star from the rating... But also - where's the joy in your life?

Click the banner below to check out some dark sci-fi...

Darkmatters Review: Jason Bourne

Jason Bourne (12a)

Dir. Paul Greengrass

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

Read the newspaper version of this review over at: The Luton News

“The next bullet's in your head!”

So Matt Damon’s back, yes he’s ‘Bourne again’ for a fourth espionage-em-up as rogue super-spy, Jason erm Bourne. The good news is that just by being in this entry to the franchise, Damon makes this better than the weak spin off The Bourne Legacy which proved that Jeremy Renner should really stick to Avengers films.

"Jason was hoping for a 4 star review"

Also back is director Paul ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ Greengrass and he certainly knows how to make an impressive action scene or two. In fact the two main action set pieces in Jason Bourne are both jaw dropping works of high tension. The first is set against a violent protest rally in Greece and sees Bourne meeting up with fellow secret government program Treadstone agent Nicky Parsons (Julia ‘Dexter’ Stiles) – only to be pursued and shot at by the seemingly unstoppable ‘Asset’ (Vincent ‘Dobermann’ Cassel). In the second scene Bourne is still being pursued and shot at by the Asset but now in Las Vegas and the result is like a carmaggedon scene out of The Fast & Furious.

In between these two bookend action sections there is an awful lot of Bourne walking about looking puzzled and perplexed plus plenty of discussion amongst the CIA top brass who include Tommy Lee-Jones about ‘what are we going to do about Bourne?’. The plan the CIA go with is to let agent Heather Lee (the awesome Alicia ‘Ex Machina’ Vikander) try and bring Bourne back in. The back up plan is to have him killed. The thing is both of those are pretty tall orders due to the fact that Jason Bourne is a one man killing machine – a kind of ‘man with no name’ for the 21st Century.

"Trouble from above"

Jason Bourne packs some great cinematography and a killer soundtrack which both help make up for the fact that in places it gets a bit dull and confusing. Fans of the original trilogy will enjoy seeing Bourne kicking ass again but there’s little here that feels very innovative or new. Sure the plot has a social media wrestling with government interference strand but even that is all a bit ‘Mr Robot’-lite. Otherwise it’s high tech hacking, getting chased, fighting and escaping again in between the tedious bouts of explanatory dialogue – basically Bourne business as usual.

Pick a date with Jason Bourne and you’ll be mostly entertained, just don’t expect him to call back (although if this makes enough cash it probably wont be the last we see of him).

"He's behind you..."

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö

(3 - you still know his name)...

Awesomeness öööö – Gets seriously awesome but doesn't sustain it

Laughs öö – A few laughs but not many

Horror öö – Fairly lite on the torture n scares

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - Who are you anyway?

Darkmatter Review: Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek: Beyond (12a)

Dir. Justin Lin

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

“Captain's Log, Stardate 2263.2. Today is our 966th day in deep space - A little under three years into our five-year mission. The more time we spend out here, the harder it is to tell where one day ends and the next one begins.”

"If you only knew the power of the dark side..."

Star Trek is back – you know the ‘other’ sci-fi franchise that has never been quite as cool as Star Wars but which has legions of devoted fans… Well, following in the intrepid footsteps of Director J.J. Abrams who reinvigorated the Trek cinematic universe before turning to the dark side and jumping spaceship to make The Force Awakens, comes Justin ‘Fast & Furious’ Lin.

And Star Trek: Beyond is everything a Trekkie could wish for! Nice nods to the original TV series abound – the opening scene in particular could be a HD reworking of one where Captain James T. Kirk (Chris ‘Smokin Aces’ Pine) is set upon by furry little space critters. The good news keep coming though in that Beyond feels very much part of the new Star Trek cannon – helped by having returning key cast members such as Spock (Zachary Quint), Bones (Karl Urban), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin RIP).

"groovy 3 some"

The scale of threat in this sequel has been suitably ramped up – with a new baddie Krall (Idris ‘Luther’ Elba) intent on mass extermination of human kind. Also new the party this time is butt kickin female alien Jaylah (Sofia ‘Kingsman’ Boutella) who pretty much steals the entire movie with her broken English phrases and kinetically exciting fighting skills. With the Enterprise out gunned and the crew dispersed, this is probably the most intense Star Trek film to date. A friend saw this in 4DX and told me he felt like he’d been ‘beaten up’ by the end, so be warned,

With top notch special effects, nail biting tension and some great humorous touches, this is sci-fi that can be enjoyed by pretty much everyone (it may be a little scary in parts for younger children, but there was an 8-yr-old at the screening I was in and he left telling his folks that it was ‘awesome’,

"Kirk gets fast and furious"

The Star Trek franchise shows no sign of slowing down and indeed is now giving the Star Wars films a run for their money. You should definitely ‘boldly go’ and see this as soon as your teleporter can beam you to your local cinema!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 - Boldly go to see this!!)...

Awesomeness öööö – Great set pieces and good throughout

Laughs ööö – Enough for a sci-fi to feel good

Horror öö – More tense than scary but occasional disturbing scene

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - It's a big universe out there!

Darkmatters Review: Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters (12a)

Dir. Paul Fieg

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

Read the Observer newspaper version of Matt's review: The Leighton Observer

"It just makes me feel so warm and tingly inside!" – “That's probably the radiation."

You know the drill: If there’s something strange, in the neighbourhood, who ya gonna call? Well, now there’s a new ghost busting team – a fractious bunch of women who have the smarts and the science to take down any and all supernatural presences, but the big question is ‘can they re-engergise this classic film franchise?’

"ready for action"

Meet professor Erin Gilbert (Kristen ‘The Martian’ Wiig) a scientist desperately trying to distance herself from her wacky earlier days when she and her friend Abby Yates (Melissa ‘The Boss’ McCarthy) wrote a book claiming ghosts are real. The two are reunited when a ghost terrorizes a local historic mansion (which they catch on film) and so with Abby's oddball scientific assistant, Jillian Holtzmann (Kate ‘Sisters’ McKinnon), they decide to start a ‘Department of the Metaphysical Examination’.

As more and more things start to go ‘bump in the night’, another plucky wannabe ghost buster joins the team in the form of sassy underground worker Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) who witnesses a distressing manifestation on the tracks near her station. Throw in a dofus receptionist in the shapely form of Kevin (Chris ‘Thor’ Hemsworth) and stand well back as the bustin kicks into gear.

"Boo!"

Alas just when the film has built up a solid base from which to let rip – the actual ghost busting sections of the film are some of the weakest. So it’s ‘nice effects – shame about the plot’ but to some extent the film gets by on a few funny moments and the sheer energy of the main cast.

The plot is a sort of rerun of the 1984 classic just with the coolest bits (Sigorny Weaver’s Zuul) removed – New York is about to be overrun with ghosts thanks to the nefarious work of bad guy Rowan North (Neil ‘Veep’ Casey). There are some good set pieces but no real memorable lines, the female cast tackle the listless script however all proton guns blazing and it’s never dull, just an entirely predictable and not as fun as could have been. Parents should note that it does get a bit scary at times too.

"Oogie Boogie style"

The after credits scene sets up a teaser that, should this make enough money, see the girls come back for some more bustin antics and I hope they do because there is potential here to build a better sequel.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö

(3 - Bustin makes me feel good, but not enough)...

Awesomeness ööö – Good in places

Laughs ööö – Some but not enough

Horror ööö – Actually scary at times

Spiritual Enlightenment öö – Science vs ghosts is a close call

Darkmatters Review: The Neon Demon

The Neon Demon (18)

Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, Only God Forgives etc)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)

"You know what my mother used to call me? 

Dangerous. 

'You're a dangerous girl'. 

She was right. I am dangerous."

"All that glitters..."

Meet young aspiring model Jesse (Elle 'Somewhere' Fanning) moves to Los Angeles, her youthful natural good looks and vitality immediately mark her out to a group of beauty-obsessed models who look incredible but are utterly evil on the inside...

Nicolas 'Drive' Winding Refn is fast becoming the new 'go-to' for strange, violent and highly creative movies. Films that will make you think, challenge, excite and disturb you all at the same time... Think David Lynch crossed with David 'Gone Girl' Fincher - another wild card director who is tearing up the rule book.

"Feel the voodoo vibe"

Refn's catalogue of films have crossed genres and styles but all have been excellent in their own way. Bronson was a crunching true life based prison tale, Valhalla Rising was a brutal Viking saga, Drive in 2011 was his masterpiece of cool crime romance and yes, nasty violence again... Then came the super charged samurai cop nightmare Only God Forgives - his most divisive movie until now...

Now we have The Neon Demon - an arcane treaty on beauty, innocence, horror and perception - a twistedly brilliant stomach churning power trip that gets inside your mind and wrecks it.

"mean and moody"

Fanning is incredible in an instantly iconic role. But she's not alone, as Jena Malone is amazing as Ruby - a seemingly good hearted make up artist and friend? who introduces Jesse to Gigi (Bella Heathcote) and Sarah (Abbey Lee). All the female cast are outstanding, and boy are they made to work hard with the freakish material on offer here...

Speaking of freaks Keanu Reeves is on hand to give a very creepy and turn which sees him very much playing against his well worn 'good guy' persona.

"Motel Hell owner..."

But it's Malone who has the worst of it... There's one scene that she has which is possibly the must unsettling and downright grim for many years but she gamely goes about it all with aplomb. The Neon Demon is a tough but brilliant watch. If you've a strong stomach and want a glitzy shallow spotlight on the dark nature that lurks just below the surface tension of our human condition...

"Friend or Foe?"

This is a film that will leave you in pieces.

It will be fascinating to see where Refn goes from here but it's bound to be a wild ride!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 - Beauty isn't everything it's the only thing)...

Awesomeness öööö – stunning overall feel and spectacle

Laughs öö – Acidly amusing in places

Horror ööööö – CAUTION - very sick and violent in places

Spiritual Enlightenment -öööö – Everything is rotten at core